Outside of a Dog Booklist

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"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."
—Groucho Marx

We are frequently asked to recommend literature to kids, and while there's nothing better than taking the time to know what the individual likes and recommend for their tastes, we've definitely settled on a number of books that are our personal favorites. This list is meant to promote books that will branch kids beyond the latest pop-fiction, and beyond many of the curricular lists you'll find floating around.

The PDF version of Outside of a Dog offers a page of links helping you navigate the overwhelming resources scattered throughout this website. It includes recommended read-alouds for preschoolers and kindergartners and contains 50+ titles for grades 1-8, offering you summer reading aplenty for years on end. It doesn't promote a liberal agenda, cater to the lowest common denominator, or present books designed to make anyone look smart. We haven't limited ourselves to classics or "must-read" titles. There are plenty of those, but just as many are personal favorites that have kindled our own love of reading. These are books that will open the wide doors of reading to kids turned off by more than standard fare. Throughout the list, author names are links, often taking you to short biographies, links to more information, and a list of what we have.

It's also intended to challenge older readers, with two lists for high school students and two for adults:

150+ great literature and fiction titles
150+ non-fiction titles, containing history, biographies, basic philosophy, and titles that focus on spiritual matters and practical Christian living. We want to encourage you to be culture-changers for Christ

The printed version is a little different. It doesn't include the links, of course, nor does it have the preschool/kindergarten reading lists or the adult lists. It does include an "advanced" high school list, which is what was adapted into the adult lists. Also, in the digital version, the grade level lists have been tweaked, with some new favorites added, and some reading level suggestions adjusted.

This category on our site offers all of our recommended books in one place. We are working on adding an Exodus rating to every single one. Browse the list, or filter by grade with the sidebar.

Whether you're six or sixteen (or sixty!), whether you're a dog person or not, some new best friends are waiting!

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Parent Categories

Fiction & Literature

Doorways to Great Reading

Outside of a Dog Booklist

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1st Grade Outside of a Dog Booklist

2nd Grade Outside of a Dog Booklist

3rd Grade Outside of a Dog Booklist

4th Grade Outside of a Dog Booklist

5th Grade Outside of a Dog Booklist

6th Grade Outside of a Dog Booklist

7th Grade Outside of a Dog Booklist

8th Grade Outside of a Dog Booklist

9th-12th Outside of a Dog - Fiction

9th-12th Outside of a Dog - Nonfiction

Adult Fiction Outside of a Dog Booklist

Adult Nonfiction Outside of a Dog Booklist

45 Items found Print

Active Filters:

Realistic Fiction,

5th grade (Ages 10-11),

Mass market paperback

	All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor, illustrated by Helen John from Yearling Family Stories for 2nd-6th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $7.99
	Anne of Green Gables Anne #1 by L. M. Montgomery from Bantam Books Orphan Stories for 5th-9th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $7.99
	Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild from Yearling Realistic Fiction for 3rd-6th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $8.99
	Banner in the Sky by James Ramsey Ullman from HarperCollins Realistic Fiction for 4th-8th grade 1955 Newbery Honor Book in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV) $8.99
	Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson from HarperCollins Humor for 3rd-6th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $8.99
	Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill Betsy-Tacy #3 by Maud Hart Lovelace First Harper Trophy Edition from HarperCollins for 3rd-6th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $4.00 (1 in stock)
	Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill RPG Betsy-Tacy #3 by Maud Hart Lovelace from HarperTrophy for 3rd-6th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
	Betsy-Tacy Betsy-Tacy #1 by Maud Hart Lovelace 2^nd edition from HarperCollins Family/Friendship Story for 3rd-6th grade HarperTrophy in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $9.99
	Betsy-Tacy and Tib Betsy-Tacy #2 by Maud Hart Lovelace 2^nd edition from HarperCollins Family/Friendship Story for 3rd-6th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $6.99
	Black Beauty Puffin Classics by Anna Sewell from Puffin Books Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF) $8.99
	Brighty of the Grand Canyon by Marguerite Henry from Aladdin Paperbacks Realistic Animal Stories for 3rd-6th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $7.99
	Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink from Simon Pulse Realistic Family Fiction for 3rd-7th grade 1936 Newbery Medal winner in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $7.99
	Call it Courage by Armstrong Sperry from Aladdin Paperbacks Realistic Fiction for 2nd-6th grade 1941 Newbery Medal winner in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV) $4.99 $3.00 (2 in stock)
	Centerburg Tales More Adventures of Homer Price by Robert McCloskey from Puffin Books Humor for 3rd-6th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $6.99
	Dancing Shoes by Noel Streatfeild from Yearling Realistic Fiction for 3rd-6th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $7.99 $4.00 (1 in stock)
	Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary from HarperCollins Realistic Fiction for 5th-9th grade 1984 Newbery Medal winner in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $7.99
	Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli from Yearling Realistic Fiction for 3rd-6th grade 1950 Newbery Medal winner in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF) $7.99
	Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson, illustrated by Garth Williams from HarperCollins Realistic Fiction for 3rd-6th grade 1959 Newbery Honor Book in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $7.99
	Golden Goblet by Eloise J. McGraw from Puffin Books Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade 1962 Newbery Honor Book in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV) $8.99
	Henry Reed, Inc. by Keith Robertson from Puffin Books Humor for 4th-7th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $8.99
	Homer Price by Robert McCloskey from Puffin Books Humor for 3rd-6th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $7.99
	House of Sixty Fathers by Meindert DeJong & Maurice Sendak from Inheritance Publications Realistic Fiction for 4th-8th grade 1957 Newbery Honor Book in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $16.95
	House of Sixty Fathers RPG by Meindert DeJong & Maurice Sendak from HarperCollins Realistic Fiction for 4th-8th grade 1957 Newbery Honor Book in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
	Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes from Harcourt Realistic Fiction for 3rd-6th grade 1945 Newbery Honor Book in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $8.99
	Justin Morgan Had a Horse by Marguerite Henry; illustrated by Wesley Dennis from Aladdin Paperbacks Realistic Animal Stories for 3rd-6th grade 1946 Newbery Honor Book in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $7.99
	Little Women Puffin Classics by Louisa May Alcott from Puffin Books Realistic Romantic Fiction for 5th-8th grade in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF) $10.99
	Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli from Little, Brown & Company Realistic Fiction for 5th-9th grade 1991 Newbery Medal winner in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $8.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
	On the Banks of Plum Creek Little House Series #4 by Laura Ingalls Wilder from HarperCollins Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade 1938 Newbery Honor Book in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF) $9.99
	Pinky Pye by Eleanor Estes from Harcourt Realistic Animal Fiction for 2nd-5th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $9.99
	Pinky Pye by Eleanor Estes from Harcourt Realistic Animal Fiction for 2nd-5th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
	Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry Puffin Modern Classics by Mildred Taylor from Puffin Books Realistic Fiction for 5th-8th grade 1977 Newbery Medal winner in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF) $8.99
	Roller Skates Puffin Newbery Library by Ruth Sawyer from Puffin Books Realistic fiction for 5th-8th grade 1937 Newbery Medal winner in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $8.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
	Roller Skates Puffin Newbery Library by Ruth Sawyer from Yearling Realistic fiction for 5th-8th grade 1937 Newbery Medal winner in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $1.50 (1 in stock)
	Secret Garden Puffin Classics by Frances Burnett from Puffin Books Realistic Fiction for 4th-8th grade in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF) $8.99
	Shadow of a Bull by Maia Wojciechowska from Aladdin Paperbacks Realistic Fiction for 5th-8th grade 1965 Newbery Medal winner in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $7.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
	Single Shard by Linda Sue Park from Sandpiper Books Realistic fiction for 5th-8th grade 2002 Newbery Medal winner in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $8.99
	Sounder by William H. Armstrong from HarperCollins Realistic Fiction for 3rd-8th grade 1970 Newbery Medal winner in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $6.99 $4.00 (2 in stock)
	Staircase by Ann Rinaldi from Harcourt Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF) $6.99
	Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski from HarperCollins Realistic fiction for 4th-6th grade 1946 Newbery Medal winner in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $9.99
	Swallowdale Swallows and Amazons #2 by Arthur Ransome from Puffin Books for 5th-8th grade in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
	Swiss Family Robinson Puffin Classics by Johann Wyss from Puffin Books Realistic Stories/Adventure for 4th-8th grade in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF) $8.99
	Theater Shoes by Noel Streatfeild from Yearling Realistic Fiction for 3rd-6th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $7.99 $4.50 (2 in stock)
	White Stag Puffin Newbery Library by Kate Seredy from Puffin Books Heroic Legend for 4th-6th grade 1938 Newbery Medal winner in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $6.99 $3.00 (1 in stock)
	Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare Reissue from Sandpiper Books Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade 1959 Newbery Medal winner in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF) $9.99
	Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze by Elizabeth Foreman Lewis, illustrated by William Low from Square Fish Publishing Realistic Fiction for 5th-8th grade 1933 Newbery Medal winner in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $9.99

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